We went to the clinic today for the Neupogen shot, blood draw and they weighed and measured Doug. This is the second time for the weigh-in. I suppose it will become more frequent. Here is an interesting thing - the medical assistant had to go get two RNs - they need three people to agree on the weight. They use the weight not only to monitor the patient's condition, but to factor the amount of chemo (and other drugs) to be given. So if someone writes down the wrong weight -- oops, you might get too much or too little of the high dose chemo. Neither would be good.
For any medical people: Doug's WBC is up to 30.1 (three times normal) -- guess those Neupogen shots are working! No wonder he aches. They don't want it to go any higher - there is a fine line between a "good" high and too much, so they will watch it closely. One nice thing is that Doug doesn't have to get stuck with a needle; they just draw blood from his central line.
We got the report from his marrow aspiration that was done last Thursday. "Low level plasma cell dyscrasia" -- that means they can see myeloma cancer cells but not enough to count -- a very good thing! Medically speaking, this is a very good time for Doug to be having his stem cell transplant, while the cancer cells are low. We are going to whip those cells back and get a long remission!
We have the rest of the day to ourselves. Doug is not sleeping well at night but he does nap on the couch. My job now is to be quiet; I can amuse myself by reading, working on the computer, going outside for a walk, or there is always laundry. I also brought some crocheting and some jewelry making stuff.
Tonight at 9:00 p.m. we go to P/SL hospital so Doug can get his Mozobil shots. Stem cell collection starts at 7:00 a.m. and the Mozobil has to be given that many hours before collection.
“Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.” Willie Nelson
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